Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 204: Killing a Goat, Scaring a Lass

Wrapped up in his thoughts, Xu Qing headed to Harbor 176’s Violent Crimes Division headquarters.

It was getting late, and because of all the activity related to the Intelligence Division, people were on edge. That, in turn, had caused business to dip at the brothels and gambling halls, as many people weren’t in the mood for partying.

Because of how the rules worked in Seven Blood Eyes, traitors... were relatively common. Qi Condensation disciples were like venomous bugs in a jar, and thus didn’t have any sense of belonging. Truth be told, the sect didn’t care about providing a sense of belonging, as everything revolved around profit. Add in the fact that Foundation Establishment cultivators were like lone wolves, also motivated by profit, and it was little wonder that there were always people ready to sell information for the right price.historical

Xu Qing wasn’t thinking about such things as he made his way through the city. Nor was he worried about the fact that the Mute was following him.

Eventually, he reached the Violent Crimes Division.

There were two constables on duty at the main entrance, and when they caught sight of him, their eyes lit up with passion, and then dropped down to kowtow.

“Well met, Director!”

To them, Xu Qing was already something of a legend. He had started out as an ordinary constable in the Violent Crimes Division, but had quickly risen to prominence. He reached Foundation Establishment in a year, took only a few months to ignite his first life flame, and in less than two years, was already a two-flame cultivator. And then there was that spectacular event with the Seazombies. He was the one who had crushed the junior princess from Eastnether Isle, who was now locked up in the Celestial Bureau. Because of that, Xu Qing was now an object of admiration among countless disciples.

Expression the same as ever, Xu Qing nodded at the constables then headed directly toward the underground cell block.

All prisoners were kept together, including those in Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment, as well as other special types of cultivators. There were over a hundred cells, with restrictive spell formations built into their metal bars. The atmosphere was vile. The subterranean environment created a noxious stench, which combined with the odor of feces and urine into something that provoked the urge to vomit.

Most of the cells were filled with nonhuman criminals, none of which Xu Qing had personally arrested. After all, Xu Qing usually didn’t arrest people. He took their heads.

He attracted the attention of the nonhuman cultivators as soon as he stepped inside. Some bared their teeth, some smiled ingratiatingly, some spat at him, and some whistled at him in a vulgar fashion. They weren’t the least bit afraid of him. Being locked in here away from the light of day, they didn’t fear death.

Within the shouting, Xu Qing detected the sound of black-garbed Yanyan off in the distance.

“Xu Qing! You’re gonna die a horrible death! Once I’m out of here I’ll slice your heart out of your chest and eat it right in front of you!!”

Xu Qing’s face remained expressionless as he ignored the nonhuman cultivators, and instead turned to the Mute.

“No matter what you hear, don’t come in and disturb me.”

The Mute nodded, and the other constables on guard duty suddenly looked very somber.

Without another word, Xu Qing closed the main door. When that happened, things got even more raucous.

“So, it’s a human girly boy? Hahaha! I love that kind of thing. I’m getting turned on just looking!”

“Come over here, little human. I’m in the mood for a massage!”

“Foundation Establishment? Like hell! If you’ve got what it takes, just kill me!”

“Don’t listen to them, Senior! Help me out, sir! I know a big secret!”

Meanwhile, Yanyan grabbed the bars of her cell, ignoring how the spell formation caused them to hiss and smoke. Eyes full of madness, she glared at Xu Qing and cackled loudly. “Xu Qing, I’ve already cursed you 273,856 times!”

Xu Qing looked around at the cells until his gaze came to rest on a cultivator with the head of a goat, who was gyrating his hips suggestively. The goat-headed cultivator was a member of Night Dove. Obviously nonhuman, he had black fur, and appeared to be in the Foundation Establishment level. His cultivation base had been sealed, but he had vigorous life force. Upon seeing Xu Qing look his way, he licked his lips.

“Me? Oh yeah! Come on, pick me! I’ve eaten quite a few humans over the years. Given how pretty you are, I’m curious how you taste! Hahaha!”

Xu Qing nodded and waved his right hand. Instantly, the prison’s spell formation activated, opening the cell door, wrapping around the goat-headed cultivator and dragging him out.

As the nonhuman hovered in midair, he laughed loudly, eyes gleaming with madness. Then, just as he was about to say something, Xu Qing waved his hand again, sending out some poison powder that covered the goat-headed cultivator and then seeped into his body.

“Poison? Are you kidding me, fool? I don’t—” Suddenly, he twitched, and then twitched again. A vicious grin appeared on his face. “Feels great!”

Xu Qing studied him for a time, watching as the goat-headed cultivator twitched even more. Then blood started to ooze out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Finally, Xu Qing took out a bottle of black beetles and released some of them.

The beetles rushed toward the goat-headed cultivator and burrowed into his skin. The pain caused the cultivator’s eyes to turn red, but the insane look on his face didn’t change. That said, deep within his eyes flickered a bit of terror. Then, a moment later, he began to wither. Black beetles flew out from him, which Xu Qing grabbed and studied closely. Finally, the goat-headed cultivator dropped to the ground, trembling. And yet, the insanity on his face remained.

“That’s all?”

Turning a deaf ear to the goat-headed cultivator, Xu Qing continued to study the beetles. As it turned out, their aura seemed a bit stronger, although only by a small amount.

That left him a bit puzzled. Based on his previous research, he had been certain that by adding those seven medicinal plants into their food, it would result in the black beetles getting a lot stronger. But this result was definitely not matching up to his expectations.

I need to figure out what’s going wrong.

He waved his hand, causing the goat-headed cultivator to fly up to him. The cultivator was about to make some sarcastic comments when Xu Qing produced a dagger, slashed it across the cultivator’s abdomen, then observed the wound closely.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed out, which then faded into a moan of terror and agony.

The surrounding jail cells went silent as the prisoners looked fearfully at Xu Qing experimenting on the goat-headed cultivator.

Sometime later, after Xu Qing had fully vivisected the goat-headed cultivator, he sat there quietly thinking for a time. Then he took another prisoner out of his cell, one of the ones who had spit at him earlier.

This one was a merman. His eyes shone with terror and he was panting. Before he could even say a word, Xu Qing scattered another batch of medicinal powder on him, then released the black beetles for another test.

More screams erupted as a similar scene played out as before. Then Xu Qing went to work with his dagger.

Time passed. The prisoners in the cells no longer shouted and yelled at Xu Qing. They just waited, terror in their eyes.

They might not fear death, but the idea of being sliced open in an experiment was something none of them had even considered possible. And given they were all watching it happen over and over again, it was only possible to imagine how it was affecting them mentally.

As Xu Qing methodically grabbed new prisoners, experimented on them, then sliced them open, the ground became covered with blood.

Eventually, the remaining prisoners couldn’t handle the pressure, and huddled into the corners of their cells, watching Xu Qing with incomparable terror and shock.

As for Yanyan, by the time Xu Qing finished working on the thirty-fourth prisoner, she wasn’t cursing him anymore. Instead, she trembled in terror.

The night passed.

At dawn, Xu Qing left.

He had learned a lot, and now had a lot of ideas. After he was gone, and the Violent Crimes Division constables went back into the cell block, their faces drained of blood.

It looked like a scene of bloody slaughter. After exchanging glances, they decided not to clean up. After all... these nonhuman prisoners didn’t deserve their compassion. Every single one of them had killed countless innocent people. Raping and plundering was their bread and butter, and they were particularly brutal to humans. Some of them had even kept human prisoners just for food. In fact, they were already doomed to die. Whenever the sect needed some cannon fodder, prisoners like this would be the first ones onto the battlefield.

After leaving the Violent Crimes Division, Xu Qing went to the medicine shop and got some more medicinal and poisonous plants. Then he went back to his dharmaskiff to do some more research. The next night, he was back at the prison.

This time, there was no raucous behavior when he walked into the cell block. The prisoners all trembled in terror at the asura-like Xu Qing.

Xu Qing strolled past the cells until he stopped at the one next to Yanyan’s cell. Inside was a three-eyed nonhuman cultivator with a big scar on his neck.

To Xu Qing’s surprise, this cultivator looked familiar. It seemed he was from Night Dove, but Xu Qing couldn’t exactly identify why he seemed familiar. Dragging the man screaming out of his cage, Xu Qing showered him with medicinal powder, then released the black beetles.

The night passed in the same way as the previous night.

Eventually, three days had gone by.

The Celestial Bureau constables had started spreading word of how terrifying Xu Qing was. The prisoners were all dead, with the exception of black-garbed Yanyan, who now looked at Xu Qing with even more terror than before.

“Have the Terrestrial Bureau send their prisoners over here,” Xu Qing ordered. And the process continued.

All imprisoned nonhumans, who had once been so deranged and arrogant, were now trembling in despair.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing was making progress with his black beetles. He eventually added zombie poison, which not only helped the beetles proliferate faster, but also made them more dangerous. Now, the beetles would almost instantly transform any given prisoner into nothing but a pile of bones, having sucked them dry of flesh and blood.

But Xu Qing still wasn’t satisfied.

If they eat from the outside in, then they can be blocked. I need them to be like a true poison. They need to take effect secretly.

After some thought, he sent word for the Earth Bureau to send their prisoners to him.

All of this was affecting Yanyan deeply on a psychological level. Before meeting Xu Qing, she didn’t even know what fear was. But after the days of watching his experiments, and observing his cold, calculating expression while he sliced open his subjects, she finally understood.

When the Earth Bureau prisoners were brought in, she looked at Xu Qing waving his hand and sending at a cloud of black powder. At that point, she trembled, and within the terror in her eyes appeared something else. Something very unusual. Looking at Xu Qing’s profile, she suddenly bit her own finger until it bled, then stretched it out toward him as if offering him something to eat.

When she realized Xu Qing was ignoring her, she pulled her trembling hand back and sucked the blood from her finger.

A moment later, she said in a trembling voice, “Big Bro Xu Qing... is there anything I can do to help?”